Flange leveling device

ABSTRACT

A flange leveling device for determining the position of bolt holes in a pipe flange and the like in which the leveling device has a body with a level indicator and a pair of flange hole engaging units mounted on the body for adjustment toward and away from each other to accommodate different flange hole spacing. Each flange hole engaging unit includes a guide member having a passage extending therethrough, a cone face at one end of the guide member, a plunger slidable in the passage in the guide member and having a toggle movable from an inoperative position to an operative position extending crosswise of the plunger for clamping a pipe flange between the toggle and cone face to center the guide member in the flange holes.

United States Patent Clay I 1 Oct. 2, 1973 FLANGE LEVELlNG DEVICE [76]Inventor: Gilbert N. Clay, 6576 White Doe B TIL, Rockford, L 61102Assistant Exammer-Rrchard R. Stearns A!!0rneyMosbach, Pillote & Muir[22] Filed: June 21,1971

[2l] Appl. N0.: 154,997

[57] ABSTRACT A flange leveling device for determining the position ofbolt holes in a pipe flange and the like in which the lev- [52] Cl33/180 ;;3633; cling device has a body with a level indicator and a Pair51 Int. Cl. G0lc 9/28, Fl6b 19/00 z jgfg gi j13x22 21:3 [58] Field ofSearch 33/180 R, 286, 174 N, J y

33/369 370 37], 372 373 379 384; commodate different flange hole spacmg.Each flange 248,216, 220.5 281; 269/48J, 52; 85/3 R 3 hole engaging unitincludes a guide member having a S passage extendlng therethrough, acone face at one end of the guide member, a plunger slid-able in thepassage [56] Reerences Cited in the guide member and having a togglemovable from an inoperative position to an operative posltlon extend-UNITED STATES PATENTS ing crosswise of the plunger for clamping a pipeflange 2l.768 7/l Egbert el al 5 between the toggle and cone face tocenter the guide 2,246,834 6/1941 Bowman 85/3 s member in the flangeholes. 2,531,799 ll/l950 Zumwalt 248/216 2,746,163 5/1956 Moritz 33/3707 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I I (#6 l J I I t I l 71/ i I, 1 l I l l/ l/86 46a 220 l i 26 ,3| 25 \l I r O I \1 q 731 Z 4% I t J /0/ (.225 I I 28g I 4/ 2 l r a: I

. I l c I *n 32 "*ET 1' 3 l a: l" 37 5a FLANGE LEVELING DEVICEBACKGROUND OF INVENTION In the fabricating of flange joints and pipes,it is necessary to position the pipe flange so that its bolt holes willproperly align with the bolt holes of a mating flange of a second pipeor item of equipment. This adjustment is very important when a flangedfitting such as an elbow, a T, a flanged valve, or a flanged item ofequipment is to be attached to the pipe flange since a slight inaccuracyin the rotational position of the flange bolt holes will result in anundesirable change in direction of all subsequent piping, or in aninaccurately positioned item of equipment. In order to properly positionthe flange for welding, it is customary to position a level across twoselected bolt holes in the flange and to rotate the flange until theline connecting the centers of the bolt holes coincides with ahorizontal reference plane. Proper leveling of the selected flange holesrequires accurate positioning of the level with relation to the centerof the flange holes. However, the size of the flange holes and theflange hole spacing varies with different size flanges.

It has heretofore been proposed to make flange hole leveling deviceswith flange hole engaging units in the form of stepped plugs, the outerdiameter of the steps of the plugs corresponding to the different sizeholes in the different size flanges. Such plugs, however, must bedimensioned sufficiently smaller than the flange holes to be readilyinsertable and removable therefrom, considering tolerance variations inthe size of the flange holes. There is, accordingly, some clearancebetween the plugs and the flange holes when the plugs are inserted intothe flange holes which affects the accuracy of the leveling operation.Moreover, such stepped plugs do not function to clamp the levelingdevice to the flange. It has also been proposed to use flange holeengaging units in the form of pairs of separable cone elements which areassembled through a flange hole from opposite sides of the flange toprovide a support for the level device. The use of separable elements,however, not only complicates use of the leveling device due to thenecessity of handling a multiplicity of separate parts, but alsoincreases the likelihood of loss of some parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the general object of the presentinvention to provide a leveling device having flange hole engaging unitsadapted to firmly clamp the leveling device to a flange in centeredrelation to the selected flange holes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a flange leveling devicewhich can be readily installed and removed from a flange from a positionat the face side of I the flange.

,face at one end adapted to engage a flange at one end of a flange holeto center the member therein, a plunger coaxially slidable relative tothe guide member for passage through the flange hole, and a toggle onthe plunger e ngageable with the flange at the other end of the hole forclamping the hole engaging unit to the flange in concentric relationwith the flange hole.

Another feature of the present invention resides in an improvedarrangement for mounting the flange hole engaging units on a level bodyfor adjustment toward and away from each other and wherein the levelbody is yieldably pressed, against a thrustshoulder at the rear side ofthe cone face to maintain the level body perpendicular to the cone facewhile allowing adjustment of the hole engaging members relative to thelevel body.

These, together with other objects and features of the present inventionwill be more readily understood from the following description whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the flange leveling device shownmounted on the face of a flange;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane 22 of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane 3-3 of FIG. 1.

The flange leveling device 10 of the present invention is generallyadapted for use in positioning flanged fittings for pipes and the likeso that the flange bolt holes will properly align with the bolt holes ofa mating flange of a second pipe or item of equipment such as an elbow,a T, a flanged valve or other flanged item of equipment. In theaccompanying drawings, the leveling device is shown applied to a weldingneck flange in which the flange 11 has an integral neck 11a which isadapted to be butt welded to the end of a pipe 12. It is to beunderstood, however, that the leveling device can be used with othertypes of flanges such as the slip-on flanges in which the flange openingtelescopes over the flange; socket welding flanges in which the flangeis formed with a socket for receiving the end of the pipe, screwedflanges, etc., as well as flanges used on other items of equipment. Theflanges 11 are customarily formed with a plurality of bolt holes 11b,the number, diameter and spacing of which bolt holes varies withdifferent size flanges. In order to properly position the pipe flange,the leveling device is positioned in a selected pair of bolt holes,herein shown as the upper pair of bolt holes. In use, the flange isturned after the leveling device is mounted on the flange until the lineconnecting the centers of the selected bolt holes coincides with aselected reference plane. Any conventional arrangement can be utilizedto maintain the flange l1 concentric with the pipe and, as shown in FIG.3, a welding ring 14 is disposed within the adjacent ends of the flange1 l and pipe 12 to not only aid in maintaining the pipe and flange inconcentric relation, but to also space the adjacent ends for welding asdiagrammatically indicated at 15.

The flange leveling device includes an elongated body member 21 havinglevel indicating means 20 thereon and a pair of flange hole engagingunits 23 mounted on the level body for adjustment toward and away fromeach other to accommodate different flange hole spacing. The flange holeengaging units extend through openings formed in the level body and atleast one and preferably both of the openings designated 21a, 21b are inthe form of elongated slots having their major axes aligned to allowadjustment of the flange hole engaging units toward and away from eachother along a path having a fixed relation to the reference plane of thelevel indicator 20. While the slots 21a, 21b are herein shown separatedfrom each other, it is to be understood that the slots could be formedas a continuous slot if desired. The slots 21a, 21b each define opposedrelatively parallel guide walls 22a, 22b and relatively parallel guidefaces 22c and 22d at opposite sides of the body 21.

The flange hole engaging units 23 are preferably of like constructionand like numerals are used to designate corresponding parts. As bestshown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the flange hole engaging units each include aguide member 25 having an outer wall portion which is guidably receivedbetween the opposed parallel guide faces 22a, 22b on the body member 21.The outer wall portion of the guide member is herein shown as having acircular cross section, it being understood that it could benoncircular, that is it could have flats which slidably and nonrotatablyengage the guide walls 22a, 22b. The guide members have a rim portion atone end formed with a cone face 26 at its outer or forward side adaptedto engage a flange about a flange hole 11b to center the guide memberrelative to the flange hole, and a thrust face 27 at its other or rearside disposed perpendicular to the axis of the cone face 26 and inoverlying relation to the guide face 220 on the body member. The guidemember is preferably formed of a relatively hard material, for examplehardened steel to minimize deformation of the cone face during use and,in order to minimize frictional resistance to adjustment of the guidemembers along the body member 21, a thrust washer 27a formed of afriction reducing material is advantageously interposed between thethrust face 27 and the side face 22c on the body member. The thrustwasher 27a can be formed of any suitable bearing material and may, forexample, be formed ofa plastic such as nylon, polytetrafluoroethylene,etc. A collar 28, herein shown in the form of a split ring disposed in agroove on the guide member 25, is provided at the other end of the guidemember to retain the guide member on the body member 21. A thrust washer29 conveniently similar to the washer 27a, is preferably interposedbetween the collar 28 and the face 22d on the body member.

The guide members 25 have a passage 31 extending therethrough coaxialwith the cone face 26 and a plunger 32 slidably extends through theguide member. The forward end portion of the plunger 32 is dimensionedto pass through the bolt holes 11b in the flange and a toggle 33 ispivotally mounted on the forward end of the plunger for movement betweenan inoperative position in which the toggle extends generally lengthwiseof the plunger, as shown at the left in FIG. 2, and an operativeposition in which the toggle extends crosswise of the plunger as shownat the right in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 3. The toggle 33 is herein shown inthe form of a generally flat member which is disposed in a slot 32a inthe end of the plunger and which is pivotally mounted by a pin 34 on theplunger. The pin 34 is located intermediate the ends of the toggle 33and, when the latter is in its position extending crosswise of theplunger, the toggle is shaped to provide flange engaging faces 33adisposed in opposed relation to the cone face 26 on the guide member andwhich diverge outwardly to engage the flange at the side opposite thecone for locking the leveling device to the flange and for centering theleveling device with relation to the bolt holes. The slot 32a in theplungers are preferably formed in such a manner as to provide a stopface 32b (FIG. 3) engageable with the toggle when it is in its crosswiseextending position as shown in FIG. 3, and also when the toggle is inits lengthwise extending position, to limit movement of the togglebetween the aforementioned positions. In the form shown, the plunger 32is formed of tubular stock and the inner wall thereof is arranged toengage a face 33b on the toggle, when the toggle extends lengthwise ofthe plunger.

The plungers 32 also have portions extending rearwardly from the guidemembers 25 and the plungers are yieldably urged in a direction toretract the toggles 33 toward the cone faces 26 on the guide members toclamp the pipe flange therebetween. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a coilspring 36 is disposed around the rear end portion of the plunger andengages a head 37 on the rear end of the plunger to yieldably urge theplunger to a retracted position. The head 37 is conveniently detachablyconnected to the plunger as by a pin 38 to facilitate assembly of theunits and, as will be understood from the following description, theheads 37 are also utilized as operating knobs by which the plungers aremanually depressed for insertion through the flange holes. In order toprevent accidental detachment of the plungers from the guide members 25,a stop means is provided for limiting retraction of the plungers. Asshown, the plungers are formed with an enlarged end portion 39 which isarranged to engage the guide bushing to limit retraction of the plungerout of the guide member.

The spring 36 is also advantageously so arranged as to press the bodymember 21 against the thrust washer 27a and thrust face 27 on the guidemember, to maintain the plane of the body member normal to the holeengaging units while permitting free adjustment of the hole engagingunits relative to the guide member. For this purpose, a thrust collar 41slidably surrounds the plunger 32 and has a forwardly extending rim 41athat loosely surrounds the end of the guide member 25 and the lockingring 28 and engages the thrust washer 29 in an area outwardly of thelocking ring to directly press the thrust washer 29 against the guideface 22d. Thus, the reaction of spring 36 is transmitted through collar41 and thrust washer 29 to the body member 21 to yieldably press thesame against the thrust washer 27a at the rear side of the cone face 26.Moreover, it will be seen that when the plungers are in their retractedposition, as occurs prior to installation, the springs apply arelatively lighter pressure to the thrust washer 29, to allow freeadjustment of the hole engaging units relative to the body 21, and whenthe plungers are thereafter extended and the toggles manipulated toeffect clamping of the level device to the flange, the springs 36 arecompressed to a greater degree so as to more firmly press the level bodyagainst the thrust washer 27a and thrust face 27.

The level device is also advantageously arranged so as to facilitatehorizontal and vertical leveling of pipes. For this purpose, the levelbody member 21 is provided with a groove 45 (FIG. 3) along onelongitudinally extending edge, to facilitate centering of the lengthwiseaxis of the level on a pipe or other cylindrical object. As shown inFIG. 1, longitudinal and cross level indicators 20 and 200 respectivelyare provided at the sides and ends of the level body.

While the level indicators 20, 20a can be of any desired construction,an improved level indicator is shown in the accompanying drawings. Ingeneral, the level indicators include a vial of conventionalconstruction and having a longitudinally arched configuration andpartially filled with fluid to form a bubble type level. The vials 47are embedded in a transparent body of plastic or the like indicated at48, which body has a semicylindrical marginal wall 48a received in asemicylindrical recess 49 in the body member 21. The plastic bodies 48have a medial rib or key 48b on the wall 48a which fit intocomplementary groove 49b in the respective recesses 49 in the bodymember 21 to laterally retain the body 48 in position. Adjustablefasteners or screws 51 are threaded into the body member 21 at oppositeends of the arcuate slot 49 and have heads overlying the ends of thesemicylindrical body 48 and, preferably, the threaded shanks of thescrews engage the ends of the plastic bodies 48 to aid in holding themin adjusted position. The screws 51 can be tightened or loosened atopposite ends of the body 48 to angularly adjust the position of thelevel indicator.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction and operation ofthe flange leveling device will be readily understood. In use, theflange hole engaging units 23 remain attached to the body member 21 atall times and are relatively adjustable toward and away from each otherto accommodate different hole spacing. ln mounting the leveling deviceon a flange, the body member can be engaged at its opposite ends withthe forefingers overlying the front side of the body member 21 and withthe thumbs applied to the heads 37 to both support the leveling deviceand to depress the plungers. After the plungers have been depressed andinserted through the flange hole, one of the forefingers can bemanipulated to flip the toggle 33 into its crosswise position and theplunger then released to firmly clamp the leveling device to the flange.If desired, the toggle can be maintained vertical and can be weighted orotherwise unbalanced so as to normally swing to the crosswise positionto thereby facilitate mounting of the leveling device on the flange.

Since the spring pressure is applied through the thrust washer 29directly to the body member, it operates to press the body memberforwardly against the thrust washer 27a and thrust face 27 at the rearside of the cone face 26 to thereby maintain the body member normal tothe axis of the guides and plunger. The cone faces on the guide membersfunction to reliably and accurately center the hole engaging units inthe flange holes so as to facilitate accurate leveling of the flangeholes.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein describedfor purpose of illustrating the invention, it is obvious that numerouschanges may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of theseveral parts without departing from the scope of the invention or fromthe scope of the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a flange level for determining the position of a pair of boltholes in a flange, the level including a body member having front andrear sides and a level indicator thereon, a pair of flange hole engagingunits, and means mounting the flange hole engaging units on the bodymember for relative adjustment toward and away from each other toaccommodate different flange hole spacings, the improvement wherein saidflange hole engaging units each include a guide member having a guidepassage therethrough normal to said front and rear sides of the bodymember and a forwardly converging cone face on its forward end aroundthe guide passage, a plunger slidably extending through each guidepassage and having a forward end portion dimensioned to pass through aflange hole and extending axially forwardly from said cone face, atoggle pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said one end of eachplunger for movement relative thereto between a first position extendinggenerally lengthwise of the plunger for passage through a flange holeand a second position extending crosswise of the plunger in opposedrelation to the cone face, each toggle having flange engaging facesshaped to diverge forwardly from the associated plunger when the toggleis in said second position, said plungers each having a rear end portionextending rearwardly from said rear side of the body member, and meansyieldably urging each plunger axially relative to the associated guidemember in a rearward direction to retract the toggle thereon toward theassociated cone face.

2. A flange level according to claim 1 wherein said body member haselongated slot means extending therethrough defining guideways, at leastone of the guide members slidably extending through said slot means foradjustment toward and away from the other guide member.

3. A flange level according to claim 2 wherein each guide member has arearwardly facing thrust face on said forward end thereof overlying saidfront side of said body member along said slot means, a thrust collarsurrounding the rear end portion of each plunger and movable axiallyrelative to the plunger and guide member and having a forwardly facingthrust face overlying the rear side of the body member along said slotmeans, a head on the rear end portion of each plunger, said yieldablemeans comprising a coil spring surrounding said rear end portion of eachplunger and having one end engaging the associated thrust collar and theother end positively engaging the associated plunger to yieldably presssaid thrust collar forwardly against the rear side of said body memberwhile yieldably urging said plunger rearwardly toward a retractedposition.

4 A flange level for determining the position of a pair of bolt holes ina flange comprising, a body member having front and rear sides andelongated guide slots extending therethrough from the front to the rearside, a pair of guide members guidably received in said guide slots foradjustment toward and from one another, each guide member having a guidepassage extending therethrough normal to said front and rear sides and aforwardly converging cone face surrounding the associated guide passageand forming a rim defining a rearwardly facing thrust face overlyingsaid front side of the body member alongside the guide slot, a plungerslidably extending through the guide passage in each guide member andhaving a forward end portion extending axially forwardly from the coneface on the guide member and dimensioned to pass through a flange hole,a toggle on said forward end portion of each plunger movable from afirst position extending generally lengthwise of the associated plungerto a second position extending crosswise of the plunger, each plungerhaving a rear end portion extending rearwardly from the rear side of thebody member, a thrust collar slidable on said rear end portion of eachplunger and having a thrust face overlying said rear side of said bodymember, and a coil spring on said rear end portion of each plungerhaving one end engaging said thrust collar and the other end positivelyengaging the associated plunger for yieldably urging said thrust collarforwardly toward said body member and for yieldably urging the plungerin a rearward direction to retract the toggle toward the associated coneface, and a level indicator on said body member.

5. A flange level according to claim 4 wherein said toggle members areeach pivotally mounted intermediate their ends on the associated plungerand have flange engaging faces shaped to diverge forwardly from theplunger when the toggle is in said second position.

6. A flange level according to claim 6 wherein said plungers have a slottherein for receiving said toggle retaining the guide member on the bodymember.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF @ORECTIQN Dated October 2,1973 Patent No. 8,762,068

Inventor) Gilbert N. Clay It ishcertified that error appears in theabove-identified patent .,and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 7 line 12, "claim 6" should be claim 5 Column 8, line LL, "Claim5" should be claim H Signed and sealed this 5th day of February 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

RENE D. TEGTMEYER Acting Commissioner of Patents EDWARD M.FLETCHIER,JR.Attesti ng Officer

1. In a flange level for determining the position of a pair of boltholes in a flange, the level including a body member having front andrear sides and a level indicator thereon, a pair of flange hole engagingunits, and means mounting the flange hole engaging units on the bodymember for relative adjustment toward and away from each other toaccommodate different flange hole spacings, the improvement wherein saidflange hole engaging units each include a guide member having a guidepassage therethrough normal to said front and rear sides of the bodymember and a forwardly converging cone face on its forward end aroundthe guide passage, a plunger slidably extending through each guidepassage and having a forward end portion dimensioned to pass through aflange hole and extending axially forwardly from said cone face, atoggle pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said one end of eachplunger for movement relative thereto between a first position extendinggenerally lengthwise of the plunger for passage through a flange holeand a second position extending crosswise of the plunger in opposedrelation to the cone face, each toggle having flange engaging facesshaped to diverge forwardly from the associated plunger when the toggleis in said second position, said plungers each having a rear end portionextending rearwardly from said rear side of the body member, and meansyieldably urging each plunger axially relative to the associated guidemember in a rearward direction to retract the toggle thereon toward theassociated cone face.
 2. A flange level according to claim 1 whereinsaid body member has elongated slot means extending therethroughdefining guideways, at least one of the guide members slidably extendingthrough said slot means for adjustment toward and away from the otherguide member.
 3. A flange level according to claim 2 wherein each guidemember has a rearwardly facing thrust face on said forward end thereofoverlying said front side of said body member along said slot means, athrust collar surrounding the rear end portion of each plunger andmovable axially relative to the plunger and guide member and having aforwardly facing thrust face overlying the rear side of the body memberalong said slot means, a head on the rear end portion of each plunger,said yieldable means comprising a coil spring surrounding said rear endportion of each plunger and having one end engaging the associatedthrust collar and the other end positively engaging the associatedplunger to yieldably press said thrust collar forwardly against the rearside of said body member while yieldably urging said plunger rearwardlytoward a retracted position.
 4. A flange level for determining theposition of a pair of bolt holes in a flange comprising, a body memberhaving front and rear sides and elongated guide slots extendingtherethrough from the front to the rear side, a pair of guide membersguidably received in said guide slots for adjustment toward and from oneanother, each guide member having a guide passage extending therethroughnormal to said front and rear sides and a forwardly converging cone facesurrounding the associated guide passage and forming a rim defining arearwardly facing thrust face overlying said front side of the bodymember alongside the guide slot, a plunger slidably extending throughthe guide passage in each guide member and having a forward end portionextending axially forwardly from the cone face on the guide member anddimensioned to pass through a flange hole, a toggle on said forward endportion of each plunger movable from a first position extendinggenerally lengthwise of the associated plunger to a second positionextending crosswise of the plunger, each plunger having a rear endportion extending rearwardly from the rear side of the body member, athrust collar slidable on said rear end portion of each plunger andhaving a thrust face overlying said rear side of said body member, and acoil spring on said rear end portion of each plunger having one endengaging said thrust collar and the other end positively engaging theassociated plunger for yieldably urging said thrust collar forwardlytoward said body member and for yieldably urging the plunger in arearward direction to retract the toggle toward the associated coneface, and a level indicator on said body member.
 5. A flange levelaccording to claim 4 wherein said toggle members are each pivotallymounted intermediate their ends on the associated plunger and haveflange engaging faces shaped to diverge forwardly from the plunger whenthe toggle is in said second position.
 6. A flange level according toclaim 6 wherein said plungers have a slot therein for receiving saidtoggle members and first and second stop faces on the plungersengageable with the toggle members in said first and second positionsthereof.
 7. A flange level according to claim 5 including a thrustwasher extending around each guide member and engaging said rear side ofthe body member alongside said guide slots, said thrust face on each ofsaid thrust collars engaging the associated thrust washer adjacent theouter periphery thereof, and means on each guide member engaging saidthrust washer inwardly of the portion engaged by the associated thrustcollar for retaining the guide member on the body member.